Extra Set of Clothes
by Mnemosyne77
Summary: Nathan wonders why it always involves nakedness. Audrey wonders if the universe is against her. Duke wonders if he might be in with a shot. Three-shot. Republished.
1. Chapter 1

**Nil for Two**

Duke Crocker closed his eyes in relief as he settled back on the deck of the Cape Rouge to relax in the late afternoon sun. It was beautifully warm for Maine, where even the height of summer could be misty and cool, and he was enjoying every minute of sunshine while he could.

He cracked open a beer and took a long draught; the condensed droplet dripping cold water on his grey wifebeater and soaking through the cloth.

He'd done a run that morning and, after all the tense negotiations and glaring hostility, he'd been paid well and had roared back into Haven somewhat wealthier and unburdened by illegal goods. It was, he considered, a perfect end to a pretty perfect day.

A shadow fell over him and he grunted in annoyance, opened his dark eyes and squinted at the interloper.

"Officer Agent Parker," he greeted the sensibly-dressed blonde woman standing over him. He took a gulp of beer and gestured an offer to open one for her.

She shook her head; her features moving into the unique blend of annoyed amusement he seemed to inspire in her. She was wearing her gun and had a determined look so he gathered she was on duty.

"Parker, it's a Saturday," he said. "You're not actually trying to shake me down on a Saturday."

"Since when do I 'shake you down'?" she asked him, reasonably. "I'm just here to ask you for a favour."

"How many ways can I tell you I don't do favours for cops?"

"You've never told me that," she said, a small smile flickering at the edge of her lips, "In fact, just last week…"

He shook his head, "Yeah well, voodoo pictures that can destroy the whole town get a special exception to Crocker's First Rule."

"Which is?"

"I don't help cops. Even…"

"…cops that you like," Parker finished for him. "I remember."

She shot him a smile, "Little redundant at this stage, don't you think?"

Duke drained the last of his beer, stood up and walked over so he was the one towering over her.

"I might be persuaded to help," he said softly.

She pursed her lips; seemingly considering it for a moment.

"I'll get you another beer," she offered.

He contemplated outlining all the ways in which she'd misinterpreted him then caught a glimpse of her barely-concealed smirk and laughed instead.

"Deal. They're in the stateroom."

He sat back down and put his long cargo-pant covered legs on a chair in front of him.

"And you'd better knock the top off that, woman," he yelled after her as she disappeared into the boat.

She came back out clutching, he noticed with an amused smile, two beverages.

"Audrey Parker drinks on duty," he said, "will wonders never cease. No wait, let me guess. You're not really on duty. You're just investigating cases in your spare time because you've finally decided that not working really is a crime."

"Very funny. I'm just looking into something on my way home."

She handed him the beer, settled down on a crate and took a sip of her own.

"Ah ha," Duke said, "Well, I'll be going up to the Gull later. If you decided to show, I'd make you a martini. On the house."

"I'll keep it in mind," she said wryly.

"And now we get to the 'shake Duke down' part of the conversation," he said.

Audrey just grinned, turned and pointed to the boat moored to the north east of his.

"So…"

"Jack Bilge's boat," he told her. "All-round crook. Small time but nothing is beneath him. Kind of an equal-opportunity bad guy."

"And troubled," she said. "I think."

"Are you sure?"

She shrugged, "Not entirely. That's why I'm here."

"I haven't seen anything," he told her. "I mean, not anything… ah… Haven-ish."

"Umph," she grunted, "I might just stick around for a few hours and see if anything weird happens. Can I…?"

"Ah, no," he said, "you may not. One criminal facilitating the stake out of another criminal? No way. Not done. You can watch him from the pier like a normal agent."

She smiled, "But what if a freak hail storm causes a fuse box to explode and I get propelled unconscious into the icy water?"

"Then I'll fish you out. Again. And maybe this time you'll thank me."

"Yes I will. Because this time you'll call an ambulance or take me to a hospital like a normal person."

"I don't know. I still think stripping you naked and having a bottle of wine while I wait for you to wake up makes more sense."

"You're lucky I didn't shoot you."

"I know," he said, genuinely. "Now go on. You have your information. Go… stake out or whatever you call it. Somewhere that's not here."

Duke gave a small laugh at her retreating back, finished his second beer and then started on the one she'd barely sipped.

He closed his eyes again, forced breath into his lungs, and performed a brief meditation ritual he'd perfected during those moments he pretended to be a Buddhist.

He opened his dark eyes, took a gulp of beer and unwillingly felt his gaze shift – just slightly - to the FBI agent still standing on the dock.

"Workaholic," he muttered as he stumbled to the stateroom for another beer.

He stepped back onto the deck, noticing that the sun had almost set, and settled back down in his chair to enjoy his beer. He paused momentarily, fumbled in his back pocket for his phone and somewhat drunkenly dialled the Gull. The problem, he told himself, was the hot afternoon. That was the reason the beer had gone to his head.

"How's everything going?" he asked Nora when she finally answered the phone.

He got her report, made a few suggestions for the dinner menu and then told her he wouldn't make it in that evening. As he hung up the call, he noticed Parker move out of a shadow on the dock and toward Bilge's boat.

_Stealthy_, he thought, somewhat impressed.

As she moved into a small puddle of light, he didn't even have time to call out as the boom from the nearby sail boat broke free from its restraint, swung across the dock and smacked her across the back of the head and into the water.

"Audrey!"

Duke leapt up onto the dock, threw himself into the murky, dirty depths and pulled her, unconscious and bleeding onto the splintered wood of the pier.

"Audrey," he said, one hand taking her pulse as the other one took her by the chin and shook her head gently. "Audrey, come on."

He felt the faint pulse under his fingertips and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jesus," he cursed then cursed himself for the Christian curse. Childhood habits died hard.

He picked her up, carried her to his boat and put her down on the floor of the stateroom. Without thinking, he stripped off her wet clothes, towelled her down and dressed her in one of his shirts.

"In my defense," he murmured to himself, "that water was cold and you could have gotten hypothermia. And before you tell me I should have taken you to a hospital, I'm over the limit so how can I drive?"

He grabbed a small torch, opened one of her eyes and shone the pint point of light at her pupil.

"See, no concussion," he continued, hoping he was right. "You're fine."

He picked her up, carried her into his bedroom, tucked her in, stumbled out to the stateroom and then considered that he was once again waiting for a naked unconscious FBI agent to wake up.

_Maybe just one glass of wine_.

* * *

Nathan Wuornos parked his truck in front of the Haven police department, picked up his large black coffee and cursed as he realised he had a small cup-shaped burn on the inside of his palm.

"Damn," he said, as he grabbed a handkerchief and used it to wrap around the cup, "where's Audrey when you need her?"

He grabbed his phone and dialled her number; giving the world a concerned look when she didn't pick up. Again. He'd been calling since she'd gone off to investigate who knows what the night before and she hadn't picked up once. Now she was more than an hour late to work.

"Should I be worried?" he asked Stan when he got into the station.

Stan just shrugged and Nathan wondered why he'd bothered asking.

"What's the matter with you?" the Chief called as he walked past his office, "You look like a bear with a headache."

"Nothing," he said shortly as he put his coffee on his desk, "Audrey's just late, that's all. It's not like her."

"It's Sunday," the Chief told him wearily, "neither of you should be working anyway."

"Oh yeah? Then why are you here?"

"I'm the Chief. It's my job. Now stop worrying. Audrey probably just slept in."

Nathan said nothing; just shot his father a sceptical look and pulled out a file he and his partner had been working on.

He heard a bang as the front door slammed shut and watched in astonishment as Audrey walked in wearing a pair of wet trousers and a very large striped shirt.

"Parker," he ventured, "why are you an hour late to work… and wearing Duke Crocker's clothes?"

"Don't ask," she said as she threw her things on her desk. "I'm serious. Do. Not. Ask. And if Duke comes in, keep him away from me. Because if I see him, I will kill him."

Nathan opened his mouth for a second but thought it wise to close it again.

He settled down to his paperwork, eventually catching her eye to shoot her an amused look. She scowled and he pretended to be chastened as they both settled down to the job at hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**One for Two**

"Audrey!"

Duke banged on the door of the detective's room at the _Over the Way_ bed and breakfast, raked his fingers through his wavy hair and then banged again.

"Parker!" he called, "I know you're awake. There's no way you'd be late for work."

The door swung open and he started slightly at the sight of his friend in a tracksuit and…

"Fluffy bunny slippers?" he asked her, "Seriously?"

"My feet get cold."

"It's summer."

"It's summer in _Maine_. I assume you're trying to break my door down for a reason?"

He gave her feet one more quirky knowing grin and then held up the file he had clutched in his left hand.

"Colorado Kid," he said, "Trust me. This you have to see."

She sighed and gestured to the cramped room inside.

"This'd better be good. I'm late for work as it is."

He walked inside and took in the tiny kitchenette, small carpeted living room with a bare couch and old analogue television, and the door to a poky bedroom at the back.

"My boat is bigger," he said.

"The police department toilets are bigger," she said. "Wait here, I just need to get dressed. Don't… touch anything."

"Are you implying I'd steal from a friend?" he asked, genuinely aggrieved.

"Actually, no."

"Well, good."

She waved vaguely at the couch and then walked back into the bedroom and closed the door.

"No offence, Parker, but the slippers are looking a bit ratty," he called to her. "At least now I know what to get for your birthday next year."

"Just don't throw me a surprise party," she called back and he heard the shower start before he could reply.

"No chance," he said to himself and he wandered over to the old stereo and tried to tune in a radio station.

"Don't touch the…," Audrey called from the bathroom.

"What?" Duke called back, "I can't hear you."

He put the file down on the top of the old turntable and started to fidget with the dials.

"I thought the _carpet_ was ancient," he muttered.

"Don't… the… the cord is frayed," she yelled.

He rolled his eyes and then grinned in victory as he realised the old stereo was unplugged.

"Bingo," he said and then regretted it instantly. He was pretty sure smugglers didn't say 'bingo'. Or 'Geronimo'. Or 'eureka'. Or have internal monologues about their vocabulary for that matter.

He plugged in the cord, flicked the wall socket and then jumped back as the cord sparked, snapped and set the file on fire. The small blaze flared up and quickly spread to the curtains.

Duke swore, looked around wildly for a fire extinguisher and, not seeing one, dove for the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of clear liquid he thought was water and threw it on the fire: which burst out from the curtains and began to scorch the paint on the wall.

He took a quick whiff of the liquid he'd just thrown on the fire and swore again.

"Who keeps vodka in an unlabelled bottle in the fridge," he yelled.

"What?" Parker called from the bathroom.

"Nothing," he shouted and then looked at the alcohol-fuelled blaze spreading quickly to the carpet.

_Smother it_, he thought, _what do I have to…_

He looked down, quickly pulled off his shirt, singlet and trousers and used to them attack the fire burning across the wall of Parker's room.

His clothes caught fire quickly and looked in horror at the charred remnants of his outfit while the right side of Audrey's bed and breakfast continued to blaze merrily.

"What the hell!"

Duke turned to the source of the angry voice just in time to see Audrey grab a fire extinguisher off the wall of the kitchenette and use it to put out the fire.

"Ok, _that_ was not there before," he declared.

"Seriously?" was all she said.

"I can explain."

Audrey looked at him standing in her scorched living room wearing only a pair of boxers. "Explain? I can't wait."

She looked past him to the bottle on the blackened carpet near the wall.

"You walked past a fire extinguisher to grab a bottle of _vodka_."

"I thought it was water," he defended himself.

"You don't use water to put out an electrical fire. How do you not know that? You live on a _boat_ for Christs' sake."

"Oh yeah," was all he managed. "I mean, I know that. Of course I do. I just… it's _your_ living room and I guess I just panicked."

"Panicked?"

He shrugged ruefully.

She sighed, "Fine. I'll just call the fire department. I'll need an incident report for the B&amp;B and…"

"No way," Duke interrupted her.

"What? Duke, you just nearly burned down the entire building."

He looked down at this naked torso and the slightly-singed hairs on his bare legs.

"There's no way I'm giving a report to a bunch of firefighters with no clothes on."

Her phone beeped and she pulled it out of her back pocket and gave a groan when she looked at it.

"I have to go to work. Look, it's fine. Just go home and get dressed and I'll handle the report."

"I'm not walking home like this."

"You _walked_? You never walk anywhere."

"I needed the exercise. You think I got this," he gestured vaguely downwards, "by accident. This takes work."

"Whatever. If you won't leave, you'll have to stay here for the Firies. Or I could call Nathan…"

"No. Definitely not. That's worse than the entire Fire Department."

"Fine, I'll call them and we can get this over with."

"Or," he countered, "you could go to my boat, get me some clothes and I'll wait here. Then, when you get back, we can call the department then."

"Duke, I don't have time. I have to…"

He sat down on her couch and crossed his legs.

"I wonder," he said, examining her plain white ceiling speculatively, "what the FBI would think of a naked criminal being in your room at 7 o'clock in the morning."

"Seriously? You're blackmailing me."

"Parker, when have I ever blackmailed you? I'm just asking for a favour."

She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes in resignation.

"Fine. I will go to your place, get you some clothes, call the Fire Department and then _you_ can handle the report while I go to work. Alright?"

"Deal. Now, get back soon. I'm feeling a little… vulnerable."

"Fine. Just… for God's sake, don't touch anything else."

Parker walked onto the balcony, shut the door behind her, gave the sky a disbelieving stare and jumped into her grey sedan to drive to Duke's boat.

Her phone began to vibrate and play 'La Cucaracha' meaning it was Nathan. She groaned, pulled over and picked up.

"Nathan," she greeted him, "I'm going to be a bit…"

"It's the Chief," Garland Wuornos said, "I had to borrow Nathan's phone."

"Sorry, Chief. What's…"

"Parker," he interrupted her, "there's been an accident. Three-car pileup. Possibly alcohol involved. Possibly… something else. I need you at the new bypass now."

_Damnit_, she thought, _that's the other side of town from the marina_.

"Listen, Chief…"

"No arguments, Parker. I need you and Nathan here now."

"Yes, Chief. I'll be there in two minutes."

She resignedly indicated right instead of left and drove to the new bypass hoping she wasn't going to be there too long.

* * *

_Three hours later_

Nathan leant back against his truck, flicked a glance at his partner and wondered, not for the first time, why she kept checking her watch. A mysterious accident with no natural explanation was right up her alley but instead of being fixated she seemed distracted.

"Parker," he called and she turned an inquiring glance in his direction.

"You want to tell me what's so fascinating elsewhere?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked him.

"You haven't stopped checking your watch since you got here. The weirdness not weird enough for you?"

"Oh no, I…," she smiled wryly, "I just told somebody I'd do something for them. I wasn't expecting to be here so long."

Nathan smiled, "Would this 'someone' be the town's biggest criminal?"

"Oh, please don't call him that," she begged him, "he'll take it as a compliment and we'll never hear the end of it."

He nodded in agreement then shot her a speculative look, "Is that a way of dodging the question?"

"No," she responded somewhat defensively, "why would I want to dodge the question? That's ridiculous."

"Ah ha."

In the truck behind him, the radio spluttered coarsely into life.

"Nathan, hon," Laverne's voice called out, "Nathan, you there, love?"

He reached in, picked up the handset and pulled it to his mouth.

"Yeah, Laverne, I'm here."

"I have a message for Audrey if she's there. But I'm only supposed to tell her."

"Sure, Laverne. She's here."

Nathan glanced at the ten firefighters and three paramedics in earshot, shrugged and handed over the radio to his partner. After all, he figured, if it was that confidential, it wouldn't be announced over police radio.

Audrey look surprised and took the radio from him.

"I'm here, Laverne. What's up?"

"I got a message from Duke, hon."

Nathan noticed Audrey's eyes flicked briefly to her audience and she paused before saying, "Go ahead, Laverne."

"He says, can you hurry up with his clothes as he has better things to do with this day then sit around your place naked. Even if the fire was his fault."

Nathan took a moment to process the statement then barked out a laugh as Audrey closed her eyes to collect herself for a moment.

"Thanks Laverne," she managed.

"You know," Nathan said gravely, "if there was a fire at your apartment then that could be a matter for the police."

"And firefighters," said Leon, the fire chief.

"Someone could be injured," added one of the paramedics with a straight face.

""Better go up and see that everything's ok," concluded Nathan. "Audrey, you deal with that clothes situation. We'll all be at your rooms."

"Great," said Audrey. "That's just great."

"Oh, and Parker?"

"Yep."

"How did a fire lead to Duke being naked?"

She sighed, "I'll tell you later."

"Weren't evening the score?"

She gave him a speculative look, "No. But that's not a bad idea."

His lips twitched and he nodded, "I make you 1 for 2."

She grinned at him then. "Keep score, Wuornos. I'll win."

"I know." And he and half of Haven's emergency services personnel headed off to the Over the Way B&amp;. For purely professional reasons, of course.


	3. Chapter 3

**Three for Three**

Duke walked into the Grey Gull and flicked on the lights; illuminating the wood panelling, multi-coloured bottles on the shelves and the stacked furniture.

Outside was the dark early morning of autumn but he still served breakfast on a weekend so here he was.

"Need some help?"

He turned to see Audrey behind him still dressed in the cargo pants and light blue shirt from the day before.

He nearly opened his mouth to ask her a serious question: how she was; if she regretted packing Chris off to London; how she felt about yesterday's Groundhog Day; if she still laid awake feeling guilty about Audrey 2.

"Don't think you'll get out of the rent you owe me," he said instead.

She looked at her feet, shuffled them a bit and laughed at that.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she said, "I know better than to come between you and money."

"Damn straight."

He pulled a chair off a table, placed it on the floor and gestured to the rest of the room.

"So, if you're willing to come to an agreement to assist me without compensation or remuneration... I have the contract around here somewhere..."

"Thanks," she said wryly but joined him nonetheless. "I couldn't sleep last night. Just think I need to do something to take my mind off things."

She smiled then, "And Nathan has this thing about me going to the station before 6am on a Sunday."

"Wuornos," Duke grunted, "So unreasonable. Now, if you worked for me I wouldn't stop you from working."

"Really?"

"I'm just saying. Nights. Days. Mornings. 2 am. In fact, if you worked for me I'd insist you take all my shifts. Permanently. So if you wanted a job..."

"Very generous."

"I know, right? I'm a generous guy."

They unstacked all the chairs from the tables and pulled all the patio furniture outside, conversation on hold for the moment.

Duke snuck a look at her pale face and the bags under her eyes from slack of sleep and allowed himself a momentary solemn look when she had her back turned.

"You know what?" he said suddenly, "I'm taking you fishing. Today. In fact, right now."

"What?" Audrey said, straightening up and turning toward him.

"Jeannie can handle this. She'll be in soon. You and I are going fishing."

"No," Audrey said, "No. I'm not really..."

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Parker."

"But... no. Honestly, Duke. Me, boats, water..."

"If you're suggesting I might try to get one up in that little contest we don't talk about then I'm personally offended. Also I think you won fair and square with that whole Ezra Colbert incident. And can I just say, while we're not talking about it, that saving someone's life is a far cry from having a federal agent _order_ someone to take off their clothes."

Audrey just smiled and continued with the furniture.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I simply used innovative tactics to distract the kidnappers while I flanked and disarmed them. Just read the case file."

"Yes, thank you, former Special Agent Parker. Although... Nathan having to write up that case file ... that almost makes it worth it. Now, back to the subject you were trying to change. You. Me. Fishing. No work, no phone reception, no Troubles. I'll even let you pack an extra set of clothes in case something explodes. But, I mean, what are the odds?"

Audrey prevaricated for a moment and then conceded, "Ok. I guess a day away from Haven might be good. But we should invite Nathan."

"No," said Duke definitely, "If Nathan's there, you'll guilt yourself into coming back in to work this afternoon. And you'll talk about work. And think about work. It'll be all work. You, me and the open sea. That's it. Now, go pack and I'll get the boat ready.

"And Audrey," he said to her back as she turned to leave. She turned around again, "can you try not to have the pained 'Duke is making me have fun' expression on your face the _whole_ day."

"I'll try," she said.

"Thank you," he called after her as he went down to the jetty to fuel the boat and pack the food, beer and rods.

"I didn't know you had a new boat," Parker said as she boarded. She'd changed into shorts a t-shirt and a warm jacket.

"Yeah," he said, "I figured since I was at the Gull so much these days I might want a more comfortable boat to sleep in if I didn't want to go back to the Rouge."

"She's a beauty," said Audrey, "I'm sure I'd be impressed. If I knew anything about boats."

He stowed the last of the boxes, flourished his arm to the boat and began to outline its features.

"You realise I have no idea what you just said," she interrupted him.

"Philistine. Why do I even bother? Come on, I'll show you down below. It'll get cold as we motor out and anyway I made coffee."

Audrey grabbed a coffee and sat down beside him as he motored the boat from the mooring and out into the open sea.

"So," she began tentatively, even a little warily, "is there a reason you're being so nice to me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right. You're just being sweet and considerate because..."

"Firstly, I'm not sweet and considerate. I'm never sweet or considerate. I find it offensive that you'd even suggest it and if you mention it in public I'll deny it. Secondly, we're friends and friends take their friends fishing."

"Okay."

"Parker, the entire point of this trip is that you not be a cop for just a few hours. So don't be a cop. Not everything has an ulterior motive."

She shrugged, wrapped her cold fingers around her mug and took a few sips.

"If you say so."

"I do. Now go and get some sleep if you want. My favourite fishing spot is about four hours away. Plenty of time for you to catch up for last night. And I do have a queen sized bed in there."

"Only a queen?"

"King wouldn't fit."

She gave a short laugh, stood up and started back toward the hold. "Just so long as it doesn't have silk sheets, I'll be happy. Wait. You have a favourite fishing spot?"

"No. It was my Dad's. He used to take me here when I was a kid. Haven't been there for years."

She just nodded in quiet understanding and went to the back to get some sleep.

* * *

**Seven hours later**

Audrey laid back on the beach in the late afternoon sun, took a gulp of warming beer and patted her stomach.

"I actually think that was the best fish I've ever had," she admitted.

"Told you," Duke said. He sat up and flipped the last of the fillets over to cook on the other side. He'd set up a makeshift grill over an open fire on the beach and had fried up their satisfyingly-large catch for lunch.

They'd hung a line over the boat for a few hours; talking little other than the odd haggle on whose job it was to kill and gut the fish. Then Duke had motored to a nearby cove he knew, anchored offshore and they'd taken a dinghy in to the remote beach.

"Isn't it illegal to have an open fire here?" Audrey said suddenly.

"Parker!"

"Sorry. This whole 'not being a cop thing' is not exactly easy, you know."

"Really? I didn't realise."

"And not having phone reception? You'd think we were in outer Mongolia."

"Nathan knows where we are, Parker. And I hate to break it to you but - despite your best efforts - you're looking a bit relaxed."

She rolled over onto her side, took another chug of the beer and admitted, "You know I am. You were right. This was a great idea. Everything that happened the last few days I..."

She finished the beer and simply said, "Thank you, Duke."

He nodded, "Well, you are welcome."

He pulled the last fish off the fire and offered it to her.

She shook her head definitely, "I think I've eaten half the ocean. I swear. I didn't think we caught that much."

"_I_ caught that much," he corrected her, "You seem to be fish repellent."

She picked up her towel and flicked him with it, "Fish repellent? Seriously?"

Duke laughed, packed up the uneaten fish, doused the fire and then gestured to the dinghy. "We should be getting back. It's past three and it's more than four hours to Haven. Sun goes down early at the moment too."

"Right," said Audrey, standing up and shaking sand off herself, "back to reality."

They walked back down to the dinghy and Audrey grabbed the handholds and prepared to hoist herself back into it.

"Just be careful," Duke cautioned her, "tide's coming in and..."

He stopped as a wave picked up the front of the dinghy causing Audrey to slide off the side and into the water with a large, ungainly splash.

"And that's why they call it inevitable," he sighed as she clambered back onto her feet covered in wet sand and seaweed.

"Unbelievable," she said.

"At least you have an extra set of clothes."

"Oh, shut up."

The two of them climbed back onto the boat and Audrey changed as Duke secured the dinghy and packed away their provisions. He hosed down the deck where they'd gutted the fish and washed his hands in preparation for heading back.

"So," Audrey said as she came back onto the deck in a clean and dry set of clothes with the wet ones dripping from her hands, "still two for two."

"Planning," Duke agreed.

"What do you want me to do with...?"

He never did find out the end of that sentence. Time seemed to slow down for a minute as he felt the boat list sharply and saw Audrey, seemingly in slow motion, slip on the wet deck, slide toward the side of the boat and flip over the side and into the water with a spine-crunching crash.

"Audrey!"

He leapt overboard, pulled her up and out of the water and back onto the listing boat.

"Audrey, are you alright?"

She cracked open an eye and looked at him groggily, "Tell me you have an extra set of clothes."

He laughed in relief, sat back and shook his head, "If I have to fish you out of the water, one more time, I swear..."

"Getting old for me too, trust me," she said. She sat up, coughed up some water and staggered to her feet. "Now, seriously. Tell me you have more clothes."

"No," he admitted. "Well, I do have a spare shirt. Other than that... but look, we'll just launder your other set and you'll have to stay wet until they..."

She held out her hands and waved them around in front of him.

"Parker," he said as understanding dawned, "where's your other clothes."

"Dropped them. You know, when I," she made a motion with her hand to represent her falling overboard.

"You're serious?"

"No, I thought I'd make a funny joke about nearly drowning. Again. And losing my clothes. Again. You know what? I'm taking the shirt. And a shower. And then I'm going back to sleep. You just get us home. I'm sure you'll have dried out by then."

"Sure. It's just..."

"Just what, Duke?" she said impatiently.

"It's just that... I don't know why we listed. And so I have to work out why we listed and then fix it. Whatever made us list, I mean. Which I'm sure will be no problem. No problem at all. Of course, if we were _sinking_..."

"Duke."

"Yes Audrey."

"Fix the boat. I'll be downstairs," she paused for emphasis, "Wearing. Our. Only. Shirt."

Audrey showered in the cramped bathroom, put on Duke's familiar shirt and then clambered back into bed and pulled the covers up over her cold legs.

"Why does the universe hate me?" she asked the ceiling. "Do you think that losing clothes could be a Trouble? Maybe it's Duke's. Maybe his affliction is causing people around him to get naked?"

She pulled the covers over her head and groaned, "I can't believe I just said that."

"Neither can I," said Duke.

She sat up and saw him standing in the doorway; an amused look on his face. Throwing the pillow at him didn't achieve much, it was true, but it was satisfying to watch it thump him in the face.

"So, the good news is, we're not sinking," he said as he tossed the pillow away to stop it getting soaked. "The bad news is that we did spring a small leak and it's flooded the engine while we were fishing. Also the pump was broken. I can fix the pump but it'll take at least six hours to pump the water out of the engine. And I won't know if the engine's more damaged until it's dry."

"Six hours? We won't be home till two or three in the morning."

Duke nodded. "Also, it's getting cold up there and I'm a little wet. Actually, I'm soaking wet."

"No," said Parker, seeing where this was leading. "No way."

"If you want to get home without me getting hypothermia, Audrey, then yep. I'm afraid so. I'll fix the pump and start it up but then I'm better off being warm and dry until the pumping's finished."

She laid back down and sighed, "Do you have any extra pillows?"

"One or two. Why?"

"Because we're going to need a pillow barrier. A large one."

"Seriously?"

"An actual wall if it's possible."

"Parker?"

"Yes."

"You have a boyfriend. I have a wife. Kind of. Sometimes," he shook his head to clear it of semantic difficulties, "Your virtue's safe with me."

She just cocked an eyebrow at him.

He smirked, "I mean, unless you're worried about my apparent ability to make women's clothes fly off just by being in the same room with them." He caught the hurled pillow this time and then threw it back.

"You'll need it for your barrier. Now, go to sleep. I'll be an hour or two anyway."

Duke went up onto the deck, the autumn air cutting through his wet clothes. By the time he fixed the pump he was shivering. The barely-warm shower hardly made a difference and he quickly towelled himself off and got into the bed. He stifled a laugh as he saw Audrey's impressive pillow barrier.

"You missed a good career in construction," he muttered as he systematically dismantled it and wrapped his arms around her.

"Seriously?" she said, obviously still awake. "After all this, you expect snuggling."

"I'm freezing," he told her, "and, just so you know, bad ass tattooed smugglers do not _snuggle_."

"I suppose technically this is spooning."

"We don't spoon either."

"If you say so."

"For your information, this is called 'not freezing to death'."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"I didn't know that. Duke."

"Yes, Audrey."

"How the hell did a nice fishing trip end up with us half naked in a sinking boat spooning?"

He laughed softly into her hair, "You. Boats. Water. I can't say I wasn't warned."

"Who do you think gets the points on this one?"

"I'd say we're three for three."

* * *

Nathan parked his truck and stepped out into the autumn morning; stamping his feet at the cold air and shaking his head in disbelief. He'd been up all night worrying about what had happened to his two best friends after receiving a strange message from Laverne that they'd had some kind of boat trouble but would be back in the morning.

"Beattie," he called out to the harbourmaster as she stepped out of her office, a mug of steaming coffee in her hand.

"Nathan," she greeted him affectionately, "just the man I wanted to see."

"Have you heard from Duke?" he asked her directly.

She took a sip of coffee and nodded, "Duke called the coastguard to report their position this morning. He was worried the boat might be more damaged than it looked as he couldn't find where the leak was coming from. Don't think they had any problems, though. Should be coming in soon. Coastguard put their ETA at 0700."

Nathan exhaled in relief, wondering just how long he'd been holding that breath.

"Worried you, hey?" Beattie asked him.

"Haven's two biggest trouble magnets in the middle of the ocean in a damaged boat? No, not at all."

Beattie put her hand on his arm and smiled.

"Oh," she said, "I nearly forgot. There was a message came in for you too from the coastguard. It's a bit strange but I guess those two figured you'd understand what they meant."

Nathan gave her a curious look and she pulled out a piece of paper.

"It says, 'We're three for three. Bring clothes'."

And Beattie gave him a concerned look as his hands slipped down to his knees and he started laughing.


End file.
